Like this:

The following is a review that appears in the current issue of Kerux, the newsletter of Pax Christi Metro New York, the New York chapter of the international Catholic peace association.

Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment. By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. City Lights Books, 2018. 208 pp. $16.95.

To say that we have been hearing a lot lately about guns in the US, and about the Second Amendment to the Constitution, is to vastly understate the case. And the activism of the Parkland shooting survivors might even cause us to feel hopeful about US gun policy. Indeed, former SCOTUS Justice John Paul Stephens has recently called for the repeal of the Second Amendment!!

In Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz provides timely–and stunning–context for this conversation. Drawing on her expertise in the history of indigenous peoples and American history overall, Dunbar-Ortiz shows that the…

Dr. Linda Ghisoni, married and mother to two daughters… Born in 1965, graduated with degrees in philosophy and theology in 1991… gained a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1990…lawyer and professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.)

Prof. Michelina Tenace, born in 1954…studied philosophy… degree in foreign literature… doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where she teaches fundamental theology and subjects related to anthropology and Oriental Christianity.

Laetitia Calmeyn, born … in 1975. A nurse who specialized in palliative medicine,…degrees in theology…a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Rome.

Today’s appointments may seem minor, but they are nonetheless further noteworthy steps in ongoing efforts to make it possible for women’s voices to be heard in Vatican offices where decisions are made.”

“nonetheless further noteworthy steps… to make it possible for women’s voices to be heard” in Vatican offices…” WE SHALL SEE…pending the next pope’s inclination.

Here’s my National Catholic Reporter review (March 14) of Manlio Graziano’s provocative book about the growing influence of the Roman Catholic Church on global politics:

Author argues Catholic Church taking lead on global political stage

by Marian Ronan

St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City in 2016 (Wikimedia Commons/Darafsh)

HOLY WARS & HOLY ALLIANCE: THE RETURN OF RELIGION TO THE GLOBAL POLITICAL STAGE

By Manlio Graziano

368 pages; Published by Columbia University Press

$35.00

A notion popular after the 2016 election was that liberals on the two coasts — people like me — had been living in a “bubble.” We were clueless about the lives of Trump voters.

I was skeptical about this. I have relatives and friends who voted for Trump. Yet I am also still astounded by the outcome of the election and events since then. And now Manlio Graziano’s Holy Wars & Holy Alliance has me wondering whether…

Like this:

“Can you be a good-standing, female Catholic and still want to be a priest? Who decides whose call to a vocation is valid? Can the court legally intervene in the church’s traditions? Do religious liberty laws exempt religions from discrimination laws?”

Share this:

Like this:

To I. M. Rich he gave five tax breaks, to John Middle he gave 2 tax breaks,
to Don Low he gave one tax break,
and to Mother Striver he gave a transfer payment.
On the following April 15, Sam Uncle received the returns.

I. M. Richtook his five tax breaks and parlayed them into five tax shelters. Sam Uncle said, “You did well. You will be tax exempt for the next 10 years.”

John Middle took his two tax breaks and found two tax shelters. Sam Uncle said, “You did well. You will be tax exempt for two years.”

Don Low reported his income, forgot his tax break, and sent his check. He was called in for an audit.

Mother Striver used her transfer payment to feed her children and obtained a student loan.
Sam Uncle, upon examining her return, denied her deduction for educational expenses and declared her income (with the loan) in excess of eligibility requirements needed for the transfer payment.
Sam Uncle subsequently demanded repayment of the transfer payment and garnished her bank account.”

From the Book: The Prostitute in the Family Tree: Discovering Humor and Irony in the Bible by Douglas Adams (pg 46)

Share this:

Like this:

USA Conference of Bishops writes about women’s concerns WHILE India’s Conference of Catholic Bishops has National Council for Women and actively listens to them.

“Sister Talisha Nadukudiyil, national secretary of the CBCI Council for Women, wrote on October 16 to all bishops and Church leaders in the country….to draw national attention to the plight of the survivors of the worst anti-Christian violence of modern India.”

Share this:

Like this:

Bishop Vincent Long of Parramatta and Bishop Bill Wright of Maitland-Newcastle have effectively removed any “Catholic” arguments against supporting marriage equality and stress the responsibility of Catholics to discern carefully in determining their “vote”.

Christians must be very confused about how their religious beliefs should influence their views on the current marriage equality survey, officially described in the ABS mail-out as “Your Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey”.

Some so-called Christian positions seem to suggest that there is an inherent Christian exclusion of the possibility of civil same-sex marriage. The most careful and authoritative Christian analyses to date may have come from separate pastoral letters of Catholic bishops Vincent Long of Parramatta and Bill Wright of Maitland-Newcastle.”

Like this:

I’m one of those Evangelical Catholics who voted for Trump. I was convinced that I was following my conscience. I attend mass every Sunday and expect my pastor to be my moral guide in most areas of my life.

I must admit, however, in the area of birth control, I felt ok with my wife’s practicing birth control. We were both open to having children, but just not more than we could provide with food, shelter, health, education and love. We knew that the church was not against birth control per say, and even encouraged “natural” family planning. Our first two children were the result of that method and so we realized that it did not work for us, We felt God could not be offended if we used a method that did. Even at that, we always felt some guilt about it, and…